'I underestimated the impact it would have on my life. It took over every waking minute’

Born the youngest of five children on a turkey farm in Bellewstown, Mark Horgan’s famous siblings (brother Shane played rugby for Leinster and Ireland, actress Sharon has found international acclaim with numerous productions for the BBC and Channel 4) may have occupied the limelight for much of his younger years but since flying the coop, he has thrived, first as a producer on Newstalk before becoming a founding member of the renowned sporting podcast ‘Second Captains’ where he became the driving force behind the acclaimed series ‘Where is George Gibney?’

Despite the success of his siblings, Mark finds it easier to be happy for them rather than jealous.

“I was in my late 20s when Sharon’s first series ‘Pulling’ came out, and I’m in awe of what she does and how hard she works.

“There was such a gulf in ability between myself and Shane in sporting ability, I couldn’t be jealous of him, he was a phenomenon coming up through primary and secondary school. I knew I couldn’t compete. Also being an Ireland international he got to introduce me to a whole new world and I got to go to all the games, so I wasn’t complaining. I’ve always been immensely proud of what they’ve done, things like Shane’s Triple Crown-winning try in Twickenham in 2006 became a shared thing, something we all cherish as a family. I’m proud of my other sisters too, Maria who is a TV and film producer as well Lorraine who is an actress and voice-over artist.”

After completing a degree in UCD in politics and sociology, Mark got a job in Slattery's pub in Rathmines where he met the editor of a newspaper called the Dublin Daily. Declan O’Brien gave him his first job in journalism.

“He offered me a job covering an under-10 hurling match” he remembers. “Another punter offered me a job with High Ball, a GAA magazine at the time. I remember having to interview Joe Deane, the Cork hurler in the middle of the Cork hurling strike but it was during my shift so I had to do it in the cooler of the pub. I went on to do a masters in DCU and got into radio from there”

Second Captains has developed a reputation as being one of the best sporting productions in the English speaking world, receiving international acclaim for its over 2,300 shows to date something which Mark says there are many reasons for.

“Our presenters are unique as presenters of sport in Ireland. They’re really funny, they come at sport from a different perspective, Ken Early, in particular, is one of the best broadcasters in the country if not beyond that and is also an amazing writer with The Irish Times.

“They also put sport in its place as something to be enjoyed but then bring in wider cultural and political elements surrounding it. It’s also independent, so we’re not influenced by investors or any wider bodies which enables us to do long term projects.”

One of the longer-term projects is the 10-part podcast series Where is George Gibney? which sheds new light on the notorious paedophile swim coach George Gibney, who was able to avoid a prison sentence in the early ‘90s on a technicality. When covering other abuse stories in sports in 2016 Mark was reminded of the case of George Gibney and wanted to bring it back into the public sphere as he explains himself.

“Despite others involved in Irish swimming at the time being found guilty of similar crimes George was able to get off and escape out of Ireland. It had for the most part been forgotten and his survivors’ voices had gotten zero prominence outside of Ireland. There was also a massive archive of media material of him from the ‘70s right up until the ‘90s when he stood trial. He was an incredible self-publicist, he was committing horrific crimes but was putting people off what was going on by being as public as possible until he was exposed and never spoke again.”

One of the main aims of the series was to tell the stories of Gibney’s victims through their own voices rather than as nameless, faceless victims.

“Our goal wasn’t to get a conviction. We wanted to get the story of who he was to as many people as possible and to tell it through the voices of survivors.

"They were happy with the final product but they were also happy that people’s reaction to child sexual abuse was completely different in the 90s.

"When it first broke many people didn’t believe the survivors. They saw Gibney as a charismatic public figure. People didn’t know how to talk about child abuse back then, now we’re on the opposite side, the victims got a massive groundswell of support. A lot of people sided with Gibney back then but nobody does now, he’s infamous now as a child sexual offender. The survivors are seen as being strong, proud people whose lives haven’t been ruined.”

As part of the podcast, Mark planned to come face to face with Gibney, something which he did early in the recording process, before talking to any victims to not compromise the confidentiality of the series. Despite this, it it was something he found to be surprisingly difficult.

“We were aware of what he had done and I wanted to get it done right. But if I faced him after spending months with the survivors it would have been overwhelming, it was already very emotional and enraging. It’s difficult to approach someone like that and keep calm. My thoughts were I have one shot at this, I could mess it up but I felt I would be representing the people who were abused and who don’t have a chance to talk to him.

Mark admits that he didn’t fully appreciate how consumed he would be by the project, as it was constantly on his mind during its production.

“I underestimated the impact it would have on my life. It took over every waking minute, I was always thinking of stuff I needed to do. Once I started talking to survivors and gained their trust I felt like I opened Pandora’s Box for them and I owed it to them not to screw it up. I feared that I would put them through something and the end product wouldn’t do them justice. Apart from that, it was very harrowing to hear the stories. But once it came out I was grateful, now I look back on it with great fondness, I’m very close to the survivors and it allowed me to go outside my comfort zone and do a great piece of work that I can be proud of.”

Another success of the series is that other victims of childhood sexual abuse have also gotten in touch with Mark to say how it affected them.

“People who were abused have got in touch with me since the end of the series saying they’ve opened up about their experience to friends or family. But others have said it they feel a different approach to themselves after what happened to them they see people who were also abused as kids and can continue with their lives and feel a solidarity with that.”

Despite the success of the show Mark still feels the victims are yet to receive justice for what they suffered.

"We won the Justice Media Award with the Law Society of Ireland, but there’s no justice for the survivors. There’s something there but it’s not satisfactory.”

On 20th April 'The Making of Where is George Gibney' will take place at the National Concert Hall in Dublin, which will feature an insight into how the series was made including contributions from survivors and those who helped break the story back in the early 90s, with all proceeds going to the charity One in Four who provide support to survivors of child sexual abuse.

“One in Four does great work but they don’t get enough funding so it would be great if the people of Meath could come out and show their support for them,” Mark says.Tickets for the event are available at NCH.ie. Buy tickets for The Making Of Where is George Gibney? at NCH.ie. Tickets €40 each. Subscribe to Second Captains World Service at Patreon.com/secondcaptains